


That Damned Gazebo

by worstloki



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst and Humor, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki Gets a Hug (Marvel), M/M, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony vs Loki beach showdown, and a lot more than a hug if you know what i mean, just some beach fun goodness with Tony and Loki, maybe not the kind of showdown that first comes to mind, tw crab
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28497630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worstloki/pseuds/worstloki
Summary: Stupid cute bungalow. Stupid cute gazebo. Stupid cute neighbour.All Tony wanted was a vacation; a break from running a business and having to argue for his ideas to get accepted by the marketing teams and just some time to lay low and relax.All Loki wanted was a break from being upstaged in his section of the family business by his brother; some time off to cool down and de-stress and lay low and relax.But instead only half their regular favourite beach house was available no matter how much cash they offered to throw at the real estate company renting it out. Could they have picked a different place to stay? Maybe. But none of the other decent rentables this far west have a private beach or a gazebo, and they would have nowhere to sit alone and admire the waves from afar if they took a place without one.And, of course, that’s where it all started— that gazebo.That damned gazebo.OR: No powers AU where Tony and Loki accidentally wind up sharing a beach house and less-accidentally end up sharing a bit more~
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 30
Kudos: 87





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pinky_Wisteria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinky_Wisteria/gifts).



> originally posted [ here ](https://worstloki.tumblr.com/post/638620902046711808/that-damned-gazebo) on tumblr as part of a Frostiron Holiday exchange

Tony Stark, genius, entrepreneur, philanthropist, makes his way unsteadily down the sandy-grassy slope from the bungalow to the beach, arms filled with an excessive amount of floating supplies, a personalized towel, sunglasses only half on, a fun-sized bottle of the finest sun lotion, a laptop because he may leave the stock market but the stock market may not leave him, a black Prada shirt over khaki Hawaiian shorts, a speaker for music, hot-rod red flip flops, a bag of snacks, a thin multipurpose blanket, and a polaroid. 

He almost slips a few times on his way down, and he thinks he sees a crab and swears, but he  _ does _ make it down to the brilliant white-sanded beach of Malibu unharmed.

His plan is simple: spend the day in the shade of the wooden gazebo, sneak a peek at how his business is holding up, check his emails, play some Tetris, sunbathe around noon when the sun is highest, back under the shelter till the sun starts going down, into the water for some splashing, drying off as the sun sets, listen to some tunes while laying under the stars for a while...

Just a regular day off at his favourite beach. 

He walks to the shaded gazebo area and draws the curtain to enter. He dumps the entire contents within his arms over the table in the center and turns to open up the curtains on all sides when he is interrupted by an  _ ahem _ .

He turns, and, in the curtained darkness, makes out the figure of a person. 

_ He must be the one who booked out the other half of the house,  _ Tony thinks, eying the stranger sitting at the opposite end of the table with only a book and bottle of water.  _ Show-off minimalists, _ He thinks, saltily.

“I would prefer if you didn’t open those,” the man says, and Tony doesn’t recognize the accent, but there definitely is one. Maybe it’s a blend?

“But what’s the point of sitting under a gazebo on a beach if you can’t see the view?” Tony asks, pulling one open, letting in some light. 

The man practically hisses at Tony for doing it, which, okay,  _ weird _ , but that’s normal when you’re assaulted with bright light and have been sitting in the dark, and Tony hates that he can relate.

“How were you reading in the dark anyway? Don’t you know it’s bad for your eyes?”

“I assure you I was able to read just fine,” the stranger huffs.

“Yeah… I’m opening the rest of these too…” Tony says, reaching for the curtain by the other side. 

“Not if you wish to share this table, you won’t,” the man threatens.

“Are you… trying to bribe me?” Tony asks, shocked, because  _ who does this guy think he is?  _

“Compromise with,” the man has  _ the gall _ to say. “And with table space, yes,” and Tony sputters. What can he even say to this. He’s here for a vacation, not to argue with strangers who are taking up half the gazebo  _ that should be his! _

“Half,” Tony suggests, because he will  _ not  _ sit in the dark all day and miss out on his beach-view just so he gets to _ use the table _ . “You get half of this space, and I get the other half, and we can do whatever we want on our sides.”

The man sighs. “Fine. That sounds fair.”

The two of them spend the entire rest of the day sitting at opposite sides of the table pretending they’re not intentionally glaring and making crazy faces and trying to telepathically get rid of the other when they’re not looking.

Tony doesn’t comment on how the man barely gets any reading done and the man in turn doesn’t comment on how much equipment Tony brought down that he doesn’t use at any point in favour of using the laptop to retain his spot under the gazebo. 

Schedule be damned, Tony is going to enjoy his vacation, and that means enjoying his duplex bungalow, even if someone else is renting half, and enjoying his gazebo that  _ may _ be in-between the properties and they both  _ may _ be paying for but is 100%  _ actually  _ his. 

They wait each other out, and both head up to their houses at the same time; around midnight. 


	2. Day 2

Loki wakes at his usual time, showers, pointedly gets dressed into anything but the black shirt he has in his closet that matches what the man had on yesterday, and grabs his book before he heads down to the beach. 

Having to share the same table was, simply put, incredibly awkward, but Loki has faith in it not happening again. He’s just going to make his way down to the gazebo and spend the day relaxing and rereading his favourite series without a pretentious-bearded neighbour showing up and making things weird. 

“YOU!” Loki hears, and turns to find the same man from yesterday rushing down the slope towards him, “WHY ARE YOU UP AT THIS TIME?!”

Loki takes in the sight of the man dressed in a half-buttoned-up hawaiian shirt and pajama pants, with only a laptop and towel in hand, hair clearly fresh from bed, and, before he thinks better of it, counters eloquently with, “Why are you half dressed?”

The man waves his arms in frustration, “I was tired! And in a rush! You don’t get to judge me, you’re the other f*ck who woke up this early!”

“I… normally get up this early…” Loki informs him, backing away slowly. 

He can’t believe he’s going to have to deal with this guy  _ again _ . 

At least his sweatshirt has a green hood so he can block the guy out of his sight, right? He won’t spend the entire day rereading paragraphs because the man at the other end of the table is making him feel anxious, right? Surely the man is bringing the towel to lay in the sand which means he won’t be needing the gazebo, right?

Loki literally booked this bungalow because it’s in Malibu, and  _ no one _ pays for a place like this in Malibu when you can rent a lower quality one and spend the spare money on beach parties and drinks. The fact that it’s far enough from home to make him feel safer was a bonus, but he really just wanted to be alone for a few days. 

Loki takes a seat, and crosses one leg over the other, getting comfy so he can lean the book on the table. He tries not to get annoyed that the curtains are still parted halfway. He wouldn’t mind if the ones on his side were open too, but at this point he’s not acquiescing a point to the stranger.

The man pulls the wooden chair out and sits down opposite him. 

Of course he does. 

Why wouldn’t he. 

“So you’re really going to keep reading in the dark?” he says, flipping open his laptop. 

“Yep, and that suits me just fine, thank you,” Loki answers neutrally. 

“Does my no-light-reading-neighbour have a name?”

“Do  _ you? _ ”

“Tony.”

“Loki.”

“Nice to meet you, Loki,” 

“Thank you.”

Loki uses his bookmark to flip to his page, and starts reading. He will  _ not  _ get distracted by this 'Tony'. It’s totally normal to share this table. It’s not huge, but it’s built for at least six, so there’s space. Maybe not enough to lay on, but it’s enough distance to ignore the clicking of Tony’s keyboard as he frantically presses keys. 

Loki is two hours into enjoying his reading time, and he thinks he was doing well. 

He’d smiled every time Tony yawned because with eye-rubbing and deep sighs that man was  _ not  _ used to getting up early, but he’d actually gotten through nearly three chapters without incident. 

Then, the infuriating man had plunked a speaker onto the table and started playing AC/DC. 

Now he’s reread this one line at least fourteen times and still doesn’t know what the red-head was doing with Jon. 

“Why?” Loki asks, “Why must you do this? You can see me reading, you’re blocking out the distant sound of waves hitting the shore, it’s not even at a decent volume, so, _why?!_ ”

“Sorry, what was that?” Tony answers. “Did you say something? Because I couldn’t hear you over the music, but it sounded like you had an issue with what  _ I _ was doing on  _ my side _ .”

“Your music is not  _ staying  _ on your side!” Loki argues, but only receives a shrug and an increase in volume. 

He presses his lips together. 

_ Fine. If you’re going to be petty about this, then I can too. _

Under the table, Loki kicks Tony. 

He hasn’t got shoes on, but he’s always had a knack for aiming very well, and Tony’s whimper (?) (it’s hard to tell with the music so loud) assures him he hit the shin bone well enough.

By the time Tony is done cradling his leg and looks up at Loki with a mix of anger/betrayal, Loki is already reading again, the perfect image of serenity. 

Loki tries not to laugh as Tony discovers his legs are not long enough to kick back.


	3. Day 3

Tony didn’t bother trying to wake up before Loki this time. 

He went at his own pace, and remembered to change out of the pajamas, brushed his hair, had coffee, and took the time to make himself a few sandwiches to enjoy through the day. 

Yesterday he even went for a quick swim around ten at night and headed straight back up to his side of the bungalow, because he’s a responsible adult who doesn’t need to out-do a stranger’s sleep-schedule. Or leg-length. Or laugh.

It isn’t a competition or anything.

By the time he makes it down to the beach, he finds Loki sitting under the gazebo, alone, _with all the curtains tied open._

He’s also... wearing a black Prada shirt which matches the one Tony threw on this morning?? _What?!_ Taking up half the space on his side of the table with 1 (one) bottle of water wasn’t enough, he also has to taunt him by wearing the exact same thing?! 

He storms to his side of the gazebo and slams his palms down, taking satisfaction in the fact that Loki is startled and drops his book onto the table. Tony hopes he’s lost the page he was on. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Hello, neighbour,” Loki greets, gingerly picking up his book again and giving a hesitant smile. “I didn’t realise you would be wearing the same shirt again, but I was hoping we could get off on a different foot today?” 

_Huh, well, would ya look at that,_ Tony thinks, _I actually won. The sucker is gonna admit I’m too much and wave the white flag._

“That... actually sounds great,” Tony answers with his award-winning client-smile, sitting down opposite him. “This whole thing with splitting the table and curtains in half was a bit ridiculou—”

Tony yelps and stands up and starts frantically rubbing his hand over his butt _which is stinging_ — he looks down at his seat and sees the culprit —a crab, menacing in all it’s crabby glory. 

“Are you... okay?” Loki asks, far too confused, far too innocently, far too worried for it to be genuine, “What’s wrong?”

Tony, outraged, yells at Loki, “DID YOU FRICKIN PUT A _CRAB_ IN MY _SEAT_?!” 

“I— _what?_ ”

“WHO THE F*CK CALLS A PARLEY AND CRABS SOMEONE?!”

“No! I didn’t— are you okay??” Loki says, and he’s gotten up and rushing over and... _okay, MAYBE he didn’t mastermind the crab._

“NO, I AM NOT, BUT THANK YOU FOR ASKING,” Tony screams, backing away from Loki, and running towards his bungalow. 

Running in sand is hard, but Tony discovers it’s much harder when your butt is stinging.

———

Loki… did not put a crab on Tony’s seat. 

He’d honestly wanted to draw up a truce, maybe have an actual conversation with Tony, and he even brought a towel and wore a change of clothes underneath in the event that the man wanted to go for a swim and wouldn’t mind if Loki joined. 

He’d even brought snacks to share. 

But now he feels bad. 

Had kicking him under the table every time Tony had put the volume too loud or managed to slide low enough to kick him back or played We're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard been bad? Had it been too much? Why else would Tony assume he’d actually try and hurt him? 

The glare-offs had just been fun, the faces when they thought the other couldn’t see weren't bad-intentioned, the kicking hadn’t meant to injure.   
  
Loki had thought they were getting along. Perhaps he had misunderstood? Perhaps the other had not felt they were fun little pranks?

He owes Tony an apology. 

———

  
  


Tony has been icing his butt for an hour. If he had any duct tape, he would’ve duct taped the frozen peas to his butt. 

Tony is thinking about how if he had any duct tape he would’ve duct taped the frozen peas to his butt by now when someone bangs at his door. 

_Gee, I wonder who it could be,_ Tony thinks, as he goes to answer the door. _Just so many people who visit this private beach residence._

In all honesty it’s kind of sweet that Loki would turn up to check on him at all really. But he's not going to be the one to admit that.

Tony leaves the pea packet on the nearest counter and goes to answer the door. Good thing about this bungalow: it has many spare counters for things like dumping peas. An excessive amount of counters, even, and he questions what the designer had been thinking.

Tony swings the door open, “Hey there, crab-man.”

“I’m sorry,” Loki blurts.

“Hey, it’s okay, it doesn’t even hurt that much anymore, but at least you’re owning to it.”

“I didn’t set that up! I wouldn’t actually try to cause any lasting damage,” Loki explains.

Tony sighs. “Yeah, I figured, I was just caught up in the moment and shouldn’t have blamed you.”

“Would’ve been a very Shakespearean betrayal too…” Loki muses.

“So… anything else you came to say?” Tony asks. Although he’s not sure why.

“Would you be feeling up to sharing the table like normal people?”

“Oh, come on, where would be the fun in that?” Tony jokes.

“You… weren’t hurt or offended when I kicked you or said your music taste is dumb?” 

“Course not. We’ve all had wild college nights out, believe me, kick to the shins was nothing.” 

“Crab grab though…”

“If you want to share the table like normal people we will not be mentioning the crab grab.”

“Deal,” Loki says, and he’s beaming as if he’s won a prize. Which is really cute. Which is why Tony doesn’t regret slamming the door in his face. 

Stupid cute neighbour. 

He needs to change anyway.

———

  
  


Loki and Tony hang out under the gazebo, and they share the table. 

Every so often Loki will read a line or two aloud and Tony will find himself snickering in response to Loki’s comments on the lines if not the lines themselves. Every now and then Tony tells Loki to look over at his screen as he riskily invests in either the stock market or is going good in a round of Tetris. 

Around noon Tony asks if Loki would like to sunbathe with him and Loki sees no reason not to join in. He doesn’t have any sunscreen of his own but Tony has plenty and is happy to share. 

They talk about their work, and what they’re avoiding (family) in their little getaways from home, just things about life generally. 

The sun is going to set soon when Loki asks if Tony would like to spend some time by the water with him. 

The two of them spend a good thirty minutes hitting each other with floaties when they aren't sitting around in them, and, despite wading in till their knees, and flinging water at each other, they manage not to get too wet. 

They sit in the sand watching the sun set in beautiful streaks of purples and orange as they dry off their feet, and Loki brought two towels in case of such a scenario (which Tony finds very endearing) and they lay on them as they watch the sky darken to reveal the stars.

Loki tries to point out some constellations but Tony is convinced he’s making them up. (And maybe he is.) 

The two of them share sandwiches and chips and chocolates and decide to head up early at around nine.

Tony invites Loki over for a movie, and how can Loki say no? He only just met him, but he’d rather be stuck sharing this bungalow and beach and gazebo with him for now than have to start preparing to return home in a few days.

The house is huge, and there is plenty of room on the couch for them to be spaced out, but they choose to share a blanket and stay close because they want to.

Loki hadn’t planned on sleeping over, but he stays late and falls asleep in the middle of a movie, but Tony doesn’t mind at all.

It’s hard for him to mind when he’s also fallen asleep.


	4. Day 4

Tony wakes early. 

Not Loki-early, but earlier than usual, because he’s looking forward to spending time with Loki. 

_ Hmm. Maybe it is technicallyyy still Loki-early. Whatever. _

Except, Tony wakes up alone and walks down the slope to the gazebo, and finds it empty. 

A quick scan of the beach also yields no results.  Which is concerning, but not overly so. Maybe he just has something else to do today? 

Tony gets through a few hours by rotating through Tetris, League of Legends, and Galaga, before he gives in and walks up to Loki’s half of the duplex bungalow. 

He bangs his fist on the door and waits.

About a minute later, Loki answers, in green-plaid pants and a vintagey AC/DC band shirt, hair looking only half brushed.

“Are you seriously wearing that kind of shirt as pajamas?” Tony asks, because good brand merch is _expensive_ , and the kind of thing he himself would wear to formal events.

“Yes. And good... morning?”

“Morning!” Tony cheerily greets in return, before his expression gets less so. “Why aren’t you out today?” 

“Good... afternoon? I... just wasn’t feeling too well, a bad day I guess,” Loki explains, which Tony understands. “And I already over-lived my stay with you yesterday, so I thought you could have the gazebo all to yourself today, since I’m not really in a beach mood anyway.”

And that’s a big  _ no _ in Tony’s book because  _ no _ he didn’t go too far or over-stay anything and  _ no _ he doesn’t owe him anything and  _ no _ in general because Tony  _ liked _ spending time with him! He’s fun and caring and Tony’s wondering where this guy was for every other vacation he spent here because Tony considers him a friend!

“That’s sweet,” Tony lies, “I’m not really in a beach mood either.”

“Ah. Would you… like to come in?” Loki asks, hesitant. 

“Of course buddy, if my friend wants to stay home I’m sticking with him,” Tony says, trying to radiate cheeriness and hoping some of it will stick to Loki. 

Loki steps aside, letting Tony into the bungalow that he’s used to owning on his own, but, shockingly enough, doesn’t mind sharing anymore. 

“Would it be bad to ask what kind of bad mood?” Tony questions, taking a seat by the TV. It’s off and he doesn’t see a remote. 

“A bit, yes, but I value the thought,” Loki answers, checking through the kitchen cupboards. 

“So what were you doing in here all alone without me, beach buddy?”

“Reading.”

Hmm, Tony considers. 

They  _ did _ do what  _ he _ had wanted yesterday. 

“Can I join?” Tony inquires. “If you have any spare books, that is.”

“I didn’t know you could read,” Loki says with half-hearted disgust, walking behind the couch to a small bookshelf.

“Harry Potter, you got me,” Tony states in the driest tone, “Ha ha.”

“I’ve got the second Game of Thrones—“

“There’s a book?!” 

“And the series hasn’t updated in  _ years _ .”

“Bummer, hate when they do that, but at least the show ended?”

“Yeah,  _ badly _ ,” Loki points out. “I’ve got the Lord of the Rings trilogy.”

“I thought you didn’t like the hobbits being taken to Isengard,” Tony pouts. 

“Not when it’s on loop and happening the sixth time in a row,” Loki says, dropping the book into Tony’s lap roughly.

Yeah, okay, the man isn’t feeling well, maybe he should leave? But Tony doesn’t want to leave him alone if he’s feeling bad either! 

Tony opens the book, skipping through the contents and prologue-y pages. He  _ will _ enjoy the book and he’ll do it while sitting on the opposite side of the couch because if Loki doesn’t want to lay across and tangle their legs under a blanket that’s up to him. Besides, that’s more an afternoon activity, and Tony isn’t tired at all, so he’s sitting up properly. Which contrasts with Loki’s slouchy leaning-into-the-couch.

“You know, if it’s too quiet, or the book doesn’t interest you, you can just watch something, I won’t be offended.”

“Not so fast, Crab-Man, I’m doing this to have fun and try something you enjoy, because I like spending time with you, and think that’s fair,” Tony states, and oh sh*t Loki looks devastated. Quick, something fun, something fun, “So I will definitely be  _ trying _ to read it...  at least  _ a bit,  _ before I do anything else… because I may vehemently not like reading, but I  _ do _ enjoy your company.”

“Okay,” Loki verbosely replies.

Tony tries to figure out what he’s done wrong but Loki’s opened his book up already, so he lets it go. 

Tony manages to get through the book in about two hours. Which means he didn’t actually read through it, he just tried, and kept skipping to pages further along that looked more interesting. To be fair, there is a lot of exposition and world building that he knows doesn’t matter because it’s not in the movies. 

Loki’s been shifting how he’s sitting at twenty minute intervals, but Tony hasn’t moved lest he come off as restless and not loving the book. 

“You can put something on,” Loki suggests, having noticed that Tony is done. 

“It won’t disturb you?”

“Not if you don’t have it unreasonably high.”

Tony looks around for the remote, and doesn’t see it. “Any idea where the remote is?” 

“Eh, it’ll be lying around somewhere. Maybe check under the table? Or the kitchen?”

And so, Tony sets out on a grand quest to find the remote.

— — —

He doesn’t find it. 

He looks through every inch of the couch and in every kitchen cupboard but all he finds are pop tarts and pennies. 

At some point Loki puts his book aside and decides to watch him look. He’s even smiling a tiny bit which Tony takes for a good sign.

“Hey, so, I couldn’t find the remote.”

“That’s a shame,” Loki says, and he’s definitely smiling, “would be horrible if someone knows where it is.”

“YOU!” Tony says, rounding in on him; depression be damned, he’s been looking everywhere for an hour now! “Where is it?!”

“Wh— why do you think I would know?” Loki says, turning his face away, his arms crossed pretentiously. 

“You’re laughing!” Tony says, pointing a finger at him. “I spend ages looking for this legendary remote and find out you’ve been playing me the entire time” —Tony pokes a finger in the center of his chest for emphasis— “and you’re  _ laughing! _ ”

And, okay, it’s a  _ little _ funny, and  _ Loki’s _ having fun, so Tony huffs out a laugh too. 

“I’m not laughing,” Loki tries to say flatly, face turned away, but he is clearly trying not to laugh.

Tony being Tony does the only respectable thing in this kind of scenario and jumps onto the couch, straddling Loki, so he can reach over and turn his face back towards him.

“Where’s the remote!” Tony yells, to no avail, not even a reaction to having sat on his legs. Is Loki even breathing? His smile is clearly becoming harder to hold…

“Tell me where the remote is” — Tony grabs the thick novel Loki had been reading — “or I’ll take out your bookmark!” 

“No!!!” Loki says, trying to grab hold of his book. “Not the bookmark!!! That’s my one weakness! Please, no! Anything but the bookmark!!!”

“Don’t make me do it!! Because I will!!” 

Loki chuckles. 

“Fine, you win, here” —Loki reaches a hand under the pillow behind him, and holds up the remote. 

Tony snatches it immediately, and gives Loki a peck on the cheek thanks before getting off and going back to his side of the couch. 

If Loki looks a little confused about the quick kiss, it’s gone by the time Tony is done flicking through the channels and decides a nature documentary is something they could both enjoy. When Mr Attenborough mentions otters holding hands when they’re happy and Loki asks if he can hold Tony’s hand of course Tony says yes. 

Later, when Loki insists on cooking for the two of them he throws together some instant noodles and adds in carrots and peas and egg and mushrooms, and he asks if Tony would like to share the meal down by the beach, he agrees.

“You sure you’re up for this? I don’t mind eating back in the bungalow, and if you’re feeling uncomfortable I’d rather just go back,” Tony makes clear. 

“I don’t actually know why I thought staying home would make me feel any better,” Loki says lightly. 

“Hey man, sometimes you’ve just gotta stay home, it happens, don’t worry about it,” Tony consoles, carefully going down the sandy grassy slope to the beach, his huge bowl of noodles held in both hands. It smells great. “Besides, focus on the date for now.”

“This isn’t a date, I just asked you out to the beach to eat some comfort food with me.” 

“The very definition of my ideal date,” Tony says, listing, “I was invited, there’s comfort food, we’re both already in our sexy pjs, there’s a beach, I think you’re a great friend and we could be more if you wanted, I’ve got my speaker in case we want some romantic classical non-Hobbit-y music, the sunset will happen soon, what more could I want?”

“We also held hands for ages earlier and you kissed my cheek.” Loki winces, “This is totally a date.”

“Sure is.”

“How did I miss that?”

“If it’s any consolation, I was kidding, but you seem on-board, so… it’s a date?”

“It’s a date,” Loki confirms. 

“Noodles on a beach is actually one of my secret fantasies,” Tony says, deadpan. 

“Well,” Loki suggests, also deadpan, “there’s plenty of space under the gazebo.”

“Table is kinda obstructive,” Tony points out.

“Only if you’re not creative,” Loki counters.

Tony wriggles his eyebrows, and they both laugh. 

  
  


———

  
  


Loki twists the last of his noodles and stabs his last carrot on his fork and puts it in his mouth. He looks into Tony’s bowl, and finds he’s actually finished first. 

“You’re an even slower eater than me,” Loki notes aloud. 

“Am not!” Tony blubbers out through a mouthful of noodles. “I’m just taking my time to savour it.”

Loki hums, and puts an elbow on the table to watch him finish up. 

“So, what do you want to do now?” 

Tony slurps up the rest of his food. “Well, now that I’m done, kiss?”

“I was thinking we could stand by the shoreline and get our feet wet, maybe walk up and down the beach a bit…”

“I mean, I’d rather walk up and down  _ you _ ,” Tony says, making a show of looking over Loki, who in turn snickers. 

“I’m sorry, that was terrible,” Tony laughs, “it’s just, walk on the beach, that’s so frickin romantic, yeah I’m up for that.”

And it’s nice knowing that they can still hang out as friends, even if Loki is admittedly also intent on the kissing part.

They leave their bowls and flip flops in a pile in the sand and walk to the shore together.

Tony’s hand is warm in his as they swing their arms gently and just take in the salty air and talk about  _ things _ ; just facts about themselves and stories about life and things they like.

Loki’s not sure how much time has passed but it’s dark and only the night sky and it’s reflection on the water provide any light when he presses a hand under Tony’s chin to tip his face up so he can kiss him. It’s slow and sweet, and Tony— even though Loki finds it hard to believe in the moment —kisses back. 

They pull apart, and everything is irrelevant in the face of the happiness they feel in having found each other, even by chance. 

They kiss again; slower, deeper, and with an urgency ill-befitting of the time and space they have available.


	5. Day 5

All records of the final entry have been [REDACTED] until further notice to maintain the rating of this fic. 

It can be recalled that the [REDACTED] information featured notable involvement of local gazebo space not limited to below, above, and/or against the table, various uses of the excessive counters present in both halves of the rented space, more than banging on doors, and future plans for the continued entanglement of leg distribution underneath blankets.

The reader is warned not to attempt searching for and/or to develop any interest in a desire to search for [REDACTED] records in future placements.


End file.
